


DOLL

by maaldas



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, heysayjump
Genre: AriYama, Johnny's, M/M, RPF, RPS - Freeform, heysayjump - Freeform, yamaari
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2020-12-31 05:50:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21088952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maaldas/pseuds/maaldas
Summary: “You know, I was happy. I know not of hardship and love. Why did you come into my life and ruin it all?!” I screamed as loud as I can and yet, my only answer was silence. Of course Doll couldn’t speak, could it?This is the story of a doll; my story. Who am I, you ask? Well, you just have to read it to find out.





	1. First Delivery in the Morning

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes either in grammar or typo are mine. Though how much I wish they are, HeySayJump members are their own; not mine. I'm just borrowing their image here to play in my sandbox. Please don't sue me!

**Chapter 1: First Delivery in the Morning**

Arioka Daiki had always been a heavy sleeper. It had been like that ever since he was a kid. It was as if there was an automatic refresh button that was activated whenever he went to sleep at night. So, he needed more time to collect his memory of the previous days whenever he woke up the next morning.

Yuya smirked at him and casually said that Daiki was just lazy.

“You know, I had a friend at school that was just like you. He always arrived at school half asleep. Sometimes, he even slept in class.”

“What kind of school did you go to that let students sleep in class like that?” asked Daiki curiously.

“Of course no school would just let students sleep in class during lesson and my friend was often punished because of that but he just didn’t care. He is actually a brilliant guy; graduated from Meiji University with top marks.”

“Well, good for him. I bet he ends up working as a chairman of one of those top companies in Tokyo,” commented Daiki, “Unlike the both of us working bees.”

Daiki shoved the last delivery box of fresh strawberries into the fridge and closed the door with a sigh. It was still a little after seven. So, he could relax a bit before the first wave of morning rush came in. Usually, delivery always arrived at eight every morning but the delivery guy Takaki Yuya called him yesterday saying that he was going on leave for three days starting Thursday and asked if he could send the goods earlier. For Daiki who already had difficulties waking up in the morning, this meant torture and yet, he couldn’t say no.

“Why do you have to leave so early in the morning anyway,” Daiki grumbled. Turning around, he frowned seeing the delivery guy Yuya just standing there, staring ahead quietly leaning on Daiki’s backdoor with a stupid smile on his face.

“Eh, you’re still there?” asked Daiki, surprised. Yuya suddenly snapped out of his daydreaming blushing pink much to Daiki’s amusement. “Hey, what did you daydream about just now? Some girl? Or perhaps a guy?” teased Daiki. 

“Not your business!” Yuya quickly retorted. “I was just thinking about how nice it’ll be that for the next three days I won’t have to see your ugly face.”

“Just get out of here! I’m going to take a nap,” snapped Daiki.

“Sleeping again?” Yuya raised his forehead in surprise before muttering under his breath, “You really are lazy.”

“What did you say?” asked Daiki suspiciously.

“Nothing,” answered Yuya.

He narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you sure? I think I hear the word lazy coming out of your mouth”.

“Gotta go, bye!” Yuya waved his hand and quickly went out of the back door. “I won’t be back ‘till Monday. Just call Yabu-san if you need something delivered. He’ll probably send Yuto.”

“Ugh! Please not Yuto…”

“Or Hikaru…”

Hearing Hikaru’s name, Daiki quickly ran outside, shouting at Yuya who was already straddling his bike. “Oi Bakaki! Tell Yabu-san I’ll take Yuto anytime if he can keep Hikaru out of my shop!” 

Yuya just laughed out loud as he drove away shouting, “Not my problem!”

“That idiot Bakaki!” Daiki grumbled as he thought about the implication of Yuya’s sudden ‘vacation’ leave. “Why would that stupid Takaki suddenly goes on vacation in a time like this? Shouldn’t vacation be taken at the end of the year? I bet he’s going on a date. Why can’t I go on a date?” (Like you have someone to go on a date with, Daiki)

Many things suddenly appeared in his mind as he slowly locked the back door. “Damn, I won’t be able to take a nap if I have these thoughts running around in my head. Damn you, Bakaki!” He whirled around in front on his counter starring at a five inches doll that sat next to the till on his counter table.

“What do you think, Yama-chan?” he asked the doll. “Do you think Yabu-san really would send Hikaru for delivery?” The doll stayed quiet, of course. Daiki sighed forlornly. “Aaargh, I really don’t wanna deal with Hikaru. He’s so weird, always teasing me, staring at me creepily, so scary. What should I do, Yama-chan?!”

Daiki knew that it was silly, asking opinion of a doll but to tell you the truth that was because he didn’t have friends, not really. What he had were just acquaintances. He didn’t even get along with his classmates during high school. So, there really was no one he could ask for opinion.

Speaking about the doll, this lifelike five inches toy was actually a good luck charm that his latest foster parents gave him as a farewell gift on the day of his high school graduation. The doll was of high quality that you would believe it was actually a small human with a beautiful serene face. It has dark hair that was so soft to the touch and a very smooth skin that made Daiki wondered what material the doll was made out of. The only sign on it was the ‘Yama’ kanji stitched on the back of its small red shirt; hence the name Yama-chan. It had been there from the first time Daiki got it from his foster parents. The only thing that made Daiki believed that it was just a doll was because no human on earth would be as beautiful.

Daiki let out a frustrated sigh. “I guess I don’t have a choice, huh? Let’s just pray for a busy day today so I don’t have to worry about that. If Hikaru comes tomorrow I’ll just ignore him.”

In the end, the day went by smoothly. His loyal customers came by with their usual order of pancakes, waffle and tea and only few non-regulars order for coffee. In the afternoon, students from the nearby high school came by. The girls were mostly just came to say hello to Yama-chan. The little doll had become so popular among the high school girls. Some of them had even knitted little sweaters for it. Well, it didn’t hurt that they were also good customers. Ever since Daiki casually mentioned that Yama-chan loved strawberry, they always ordered anything with strawberry whenever they came by which made him wondered what other story he could fabricated to get them to buy more. 

“Are you closing soon, Dai-chan?” asked one of the last customers that day. Daiki noticed that these two girls intentionally stayed back until almost closing time.

“Mmm… Well, there is still thirty minutes before closing time. What do you girls need?”

The two girls looked at each other for a few seconds before nodding at the same time. The girl on the left, Daiki remembered her name was Aoi, took out a few slips of colorful papers from her school bag and gave them to him. At first glance, it looked more like brochure pages with cute drawings and fancy letters but he caught a few words about his shop too there.

“What is this?” asked Daiki.

“Well, you see. We really love this shop and there is this school project about business marketing. So, if it’s allowed, we would like to create a blog to promote your shop.”

“And also promote Yama-chan!!” the girl next to Aoi, Mia, shouted. She looked really excited as she bounced on her heels next to her friends. “Please agree, Dai-chan. We promise we’ll write about Yama-chan very thoroughly too in our blog. Everyone will know about him and about your shop then many more people will come.”

Ah, now he knew where this was going.

“Erm… it sounds nice but I think you girls just wanna write about Yama-chan in your blog. Do you wanna create a fan club for him?” teased Daiki with a smirk. When he saw them glanced at each other guiltily, he knew that he was right. “Yama-chan’s not an idol, you know. He’s just a doll; similar word but different meaning.”

“Is that mean you disagree?” asked Aoi. “We’re not lying about the school project.”

“I’ll think about it but I can’t make any promises.”

“Thank you. We better get home now. See you tomorrow, Dai-chan!”

“You too Yama-chan!” said Mia waving at Yama-chan on the counter.

“Take care you two!”

Daiki waited until the two girls were on their way home before starting his closing up routine and went through the back door with his bicycle, locked the door and cycled his way home. He thought a lot about the girls’ offer on his way home. It was good to have more promotion for his shop and if those girls were willing to do it for free as part of their school project then more benefit for him, right? But, Yama-chan would get more exposure that way and Daiki couldn’t help feeling a little bit possessive about the doll. Although he was only just a doll, Yama-chan was kind of special.

Maybe his foster parents thought he’d be lonely on his own, so they gave him this little guy saying that it was a good luck charm given by a priest at the temple. He wasn’t really sure about the good luck charm part but ever since he finished high school, things were looking up for Daiki. With his meager culinary skill, he was lucky to have landed a job at a local bakery downtown as a waiter quickly after finishing high school. Then a few months later, one of the pastry chefs resigned and the head chef asked him to help around the kitchen covering the shortage of staff. He learned a lot from him and was encouraged to take a night course for patisserie.

The first time he opened his shop, he brought Yama-chan along and the doll became a permanent mascot of the shop ever since. His customers loved the little guy and always made sure to come over to the counter where Daiki had always put it to say hello.

Daiki sighed forlornly. “Daiki, you know you live a sad life when all that you’re worried about is your doll,” he murmured. “I really need to go out more. Maybe get a boyfriend.” 

Horn blared from behind him and a white pickup truck drove fast from behind almost grazing him. “Aaaa!” Daiki screamed as he struggled to balance his bike before hitting a nearby trashcan.

“Why this happens to me…” Cried Daiki mournfully as he laid on the ground next to his bike with the spilled trash all around him.

###


	2. Strawberry Pie Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru makes an appearance! Yay!  
Also Daiki makes a strawberry jelly pie.  
😋  
🥧

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes either in grammar or typo are mine. As always all characters are purely my imagination. Though how much I wish they are, Hey!Say!JUMP members belong to themselves; not mine. I'm just borrowing their image here to play in my sandbox. Please don't sue me!

Daiki poured a teaspoon of salt and cinnamon into a mixing bowl already filled with flour, sugar and sliced strawberries before mixing them all together using a wooden ladle. A pan of hot strawberry pie was already on the cooling rack above the oven behind him. The delicious aroma of sweet and buttery strawberry pie filled the entire shop, entrancing the costumers. Since the shop was only half full and not too busy that morning, he decided to bake strawberry pies for the afternoon rush. Those high school girls sure would love it.

"Good morning Dai-chan!" greeted a beautiful office lady at the counter. "Hmmm... it smells delicious in here!"

Daiki quickly put his ladle down and went to the counter to greet his costumer with a wide smile on his face. "Good morning, Hana-san! What can I help you with?"

"Can I have a cup of vanilla latte on the go, please? And a slice of this delicious treat you have."

"Certainly! It's strawberry pie."

"Whatever! I want it!"

Yet, even before he finished preparing Hana-san's order, the other costumers who sat on the tables called out to him. "Can I have a slice of that strawberry pie, please?" asked one of them.

"Me too! I want one too!" said the others and more and more demanding the same thing.

"You better spare me a slice, Dai-chan or I won't come to your shop again!" threatened Hana-san, the office lady who was still standing in front of his counter.

Daiki raised his eyebrows in surprise at her threat. It was the first time he was threatened by a costumer because of a pie.

"Calm down, people! I am preparing for another pan right now. Everyone will have their share," said Daiki to the anxious customers. Then, he brought down the pan from the cooling rack unto the counter. "I'll give you the first slice," whispered Daiki with a wink at Hana-san making the lady's cheeks pinked.

He expertly sliced the pie and put it in a wrapper for her. "Here you go! A cup of vanilla latte and a slice of strawberry pie. Do come again please, Hana-san!"

"For your delicious treat? Always!" said Hana-san as she handed over the payment with a smile. "See you later, Dai-chan!"

"Thank you Hana-san and take care!"

Once the office lady left the shop, Daiki addressed the rest of his customers. "Alright, who wants a slice of strawberry pie?" he called out and more than half of the customers raised their hand. Yet, since most of them were office worker they opted to box the pie instead of eating it at the shop.

By ten AM, there were only two customers left and both of them seemed busy with their laptop, so Daiki decided to continue garnishing the pie for the afternoon costumers. He had decided to make strawberry jelly pie for the high school girls and that desert was better served ice cold. He took out the cold pie from the fridge and started layering its top with low fat whipped cream and slices of fresh strawberries. He was in the middle of arranging the strawberry slices on top of the whipped cream when someone suddenly murmured in his right ear.

"Oh my! That looks yummy."

"Aaa!" shrieked Daiki. He was so surprised that the plastic bowl of sliced strawberry in his hands was thrown up several centimeters and some of the strawberries fell on the kitchen table. Yet, the one who caused that incident was cackling like a madman.

"Why so serious, Dai-chan?"

"You! Why are you here?!" Daiki demanded, pointing his accusing finger toward the reddish-blond haired skinny man who was still chuckling madly while leaning on the fridge.

"Hikaru at your service," said the reddish-blond haired skinny man with the name Hikaru with an exaggerated bow.

Worried that Hikaru's antics would disturb the customers, Daiki glanced at the dining area but the two customers seemed to ignore them as they were still deeply engrossed in their laptop. He then picked up the trash can and threw away the unsalvageable strawberries before proceeding to clean his kitchen table with a displeased frown. "I didn't call you," he grumbled.

"Ah! Yama-chan did!" Hikaru said happily, pointing at Yama-chan who was sitting innocently next to the cash register as usual.

Daiki narrowed his eyes at him. "You think I'll believe you? Yama-chan's a doll. Dolls don't make phone calls."

"Yet, you talk to him every day as if he could hear you."

"I talk to him. He doesn't talk back."

"But you wish he could," challenged Hikaru.

Hikaru's word made him froze and even without looking at him he knew that the man was now staring at him with his usual annoying smirk on his face. Rather than answering him, Daiki opted to clean up the already clean kitchen table but could still felt Hikaru's gaze at the back of his head, making him uncomfortable. Just when he was close to snap, he heard the man walked to the counter.

"Right, Yama-chan? Dai-chan talks to you, hmm? Do you wish to be able to speak with Dai-chan too?" Hikaru said, picking up the doll in his hand and played with it. Then, he spoke with childish voice pretending as if it was the doll who was speaking while moving its limbs about. "Em... I wish I could talk to Dai-chan. He always opens his heart to me and confesses to me about his dreams and his fears. He's a lonely boy. I want to cheer him up."

"Oh, really?! Does he also confess to you about his love life or lack thereof?" asked Hikaru using his normal voice.

"Stop it!" Daiki quickly snatched the doll from Hikaru's hand and glowered at him.

"Uh oh, someone's really angry. I'm sorry!" begged Hikaru, bowing his head low on the counter. Daiki kept starring at him for thirty seconds until Hikaru slowly lifted his head. He knew that the older man was not really sorry when he saw his smug face and sly smile.

Daiki rolled his eyes sighing, "Will you please stop teasing me?" he pleaded him while arranging Yama-chan back on top of the counter, leaning its back on the side of the till. He already knew that he couldn't win against Hikaru. The guy was just that annoying and the way he looked at Daiki with his smug smile and knowing eyes really freaked him out. As if Daiki was a very interesting objects of experiment that he couldn't wait to get his hand on.

"I would but only if you stop with the childish act," Hikaru said.

Hearing that, Daiki felt insulted. He who opened his own business at twenty one years old; who'd had to juggle between work and class every day; who had survived the foster system was called childish? Was the guy mad?

"I mean, don't get me wrong. You're a talented businessman and awesome hard worker with a great personality but really? Having conversation with a doll on a daily basis? You gotta know that that isn't healthy. Girls may think you're cute but they won't date you and guys would only want to use you."

Well, Hikaru got him there. Daiki took a deep breath wanting to retort but had nothing to say against that. So, he took the half finished strawberry jelly pie and put it in the fridge. He could always finish the garnish later but couldn't afford to have Hikaru for company a moment longer. Why would that guy even care about things that didn't concern him? It wasn't like he had a crush on him. Wait a minute; Hikaru didn't have a crush on him, did he?

"Why would you care?" grumbled Daiki.

"Why? I don't know. Maybe because you're a good person and I don't wanna see you hurt. But if it makes you uncomfortable then I'm sorry."

Daiki was busying himself by washing the dishes in order to avoid looking at Hikaru but the man sounded sincere, though. He glanced at Yama-chan thoughtfully and thought about Hikaru's words.

"Err... excuse me?" one of the customers called him, so Daiki quickly wiped his hands and attended to him leaving Hikaru alone at the counter. When he went back to the kitchen to replenish the customer's latte, he found Hikaru busy writing on his notepad.

"How long will you be here, anyway? I don't need anything delivered today since Yuya already restocked my supplies yesterday."

"Ah, yes, about that. Yabu-san asked me to handle Takaki's orders while he's on vacation and since I was in the area I thought I'll check on you just in case you need something delivered."

"Well, I don't. So, you can go now."

"Fine, fine! I know when I'm not wanted," said Hikaru, shoving his notepad and pen back into his pocket. "I better go and check on my next order."

"Sure! You do that!" Daiki waved him off happily.

"Ah, I almost forget. There's a detour in front of the cinema building, so you might wanna take another road to go home tonight," informed Hikaru on his way to the back door.

"Why? Is there something happen?" asked Daiki, frowning.

"Dunno. I couldn't get through just now. See ya!"

Daiki frowned hoping nothing serious happened. There was an old cinema building that was out of business few years ago and left abandoned on the block next to his. He used to pass by that building on his way home but if what Hikaru said was true then he needed to go around the detour to get home. Well, might as well go sightseeing to refresh his mind tonight.

###

Just as he predicted, the strawberry jelly pie was a success not only with the school girls but also the adults; even some businessmen had claimed it was their new favorite. Daiki took a deep breath before letting out a satisfied sigh for a fairly productive day. Even Hikaru's visit couldn't dampen his high spirit.

"Yosha! We did good today, Yama-chan!" he said congratulating himself. "Wonder what should I make tomorrow? What do you think, Yama-chan? Should I make another pie or maybe we'll try that new ice cream cake recipe from the magazine?" Daiki asked his doll. Talking with the doll was his way of bouncing ideas off. Even though the doll didn't talk back, it helped his brain sort things out. "You're right! It takes lots of time to freeze the cake that I won't be able to serve it tomorrow." Daiki nodded thoughtfully. "We'll think about it on the way home, then. We're going sightseeing tonight!"

Daiki lifted Yama-chan from the counter top and putting it into his backpack before taking out his bicycle and locked the back door of the shop. AS he was cycling home, his thoughts returned towards the two girl's offer for his shop's promotion. Though, they didn't come to the shop that day Daiki had decided to let them use his shop as their school project with conditions that they must focus on the shop and only write minimum information about Yama-chan. He would verify all of the drafts before letting them publish anything. They probably wouldn't like it but he still couldn't share Yama-chan with the rest of the world. Yes, he was that pathetic. Maybe Hikaru was right after all.

Juggled from foster home to foster home, he had never had something that he could call his own since he was a child. So, he had learnt not to get attached to things or people. His latest foster parents were the nicest old couple that he had ever met and the ones that he still cared about up till now. If only he had met them a long time ago his life would have had been different. He'd have a more steady childhood and who knows, maybe even friends. Anyway, there was no point in crying over things that had happened. He had his life sorted out somehow. He had his little shop. He had Yama-chan. Daiki was content.

Too deep into his thought, he didn't realize that the car in front of him had steered into the opposite lane in high speed and almost collided with a white van. The white van automatically banked sharply to the left in its effort to avoid the speeding car but the driver lost balance and went straight towards Daiki. There was a loud squeal as the driver of the white van tried to halt the momentum by hitting the break repeatedly. There were awful sounds of glass breaking and steel crunching where the van crushed Daiki's bike under its tire while Daiki was thrown off his bike few meters away.

Pain bloomed all over his body and his ears were ringing continuously. Daiki felt warm wetness at the side of his head while his whole left side was numb. He painfully turned his head to the left and saw the van's driver slumped on top of his steering wheel with bloodied arms jutting out of the broken windshield. He knew that he needed to call for help but his phone was inside his back pack and his back pack was nowhere and he couldn't move his limbs. The road was quiet that night so it might be a while until someone noticed the accident. They were all alone and his consciousness started to slip away.

"Dai-chan! Dai-chan can you hear me?"

Someone shouted his name and he vaguely saw a blurry image of a person crouched in front of him, trying to lift his body.

"No, driver... help him..." whispered Daiki.

"No, Dai-chan, I'll help you first."

Then, the stranger left and Daiki suddenly felt lonely but a few seconds later he was back with Daiki's back pack and cell phone clutched in his hands. The last thing Daiki saw before darkness robbed his consciousness away was smooth porcelain skin and red shirt.

###

To be continue .....


	3. Red Shirt Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's someone there by Daiki's bedside wearing something red but Daiki could never see their face clearly. Who are they? Why do they always come to save him whenever Daiki is in danger?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same disclaimer applied. All mistakes either in grammar or typos are mine. Though how much I wish they are, HeySayJump members are their own; not mine. I'm just borrowing their image here to play in my sandbox. Please don't sue me!

The first thing Daiki was aware of when he returned to consciousness the first time was his pounding head. It was extremely painful as if someone was making holes through his scalp with a drill and mucked around his brain with a giant fork. The pain was so severe that it put tears in his eyes. His body felt like it was nailed down and he couldn't move even a muscle. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out as tears continued to flow blurring his vision.

From his peripheral vision, he saw a blurry red shape of a person. The person went nearer and said something to him but the pounding in his head making it difficult for him to understand what the person was saying. The torture felt like forever before finally a cool sensation flooded his nerves and lessened the pain but it also made him sleepy.

"...just rest ... Dai-chan ... here ... always..." someone said. It was only few meaningless words but enough to ease his heart knowing that someone was there for him at least. He let the darkness pulled him down again into blissful obliviousness.

###

The next time his consciousness resurfaced, Daiki heard a voice was calling him from far away. 'Stop calling me! I'm still sleepy,' he grumbled internally but the voice was getting louder and louder that it was impossible to ignore anymore.

Consciousness came with pain as if they were conjoined twin that refused to be separated. A sudden pain hit his brain that made him gasped out loud and a screeching sound filled his ears. Barely registering the commotion that erupted around his bed, he desperately wished for the pain to stop. After what felt like eons, finally the pain gradually lessened into a dull throb. Daiki forced himself to stay awake and fight the pull of the sedative coursing in his system. Looking around the room and noticing the IV pole next to his bed he concluded that he must be in a hospital. Things got blurry after that as his consciousness started to slip away. A movement from his left caught his attention but the sedative had already won over his will to stay awake. He thought he saw a flash of red in his peripheral vision before everything turned black. 'No,' Daiki thought desperately. 'I need to know who you are.'

###

The next time he was awake, there was a doctor next to him checking his vitals.

"Good evening, Arioka-san," greeted the doctor. "You're in a trauma centre now. Do you remember what happened that landed you here?"

Daiki thought for a while as his memory was rearranging itself. "I was... in an accident?" he said haltingly confirming what his memory had served him to the doctor.

"Yes. Do you remember your accident clearly?"

"I think so," he confirmed with a frown when something suddenly flashed in his mind; red shirt and white van. "There was a man. Uh, white van... how's he?"

The doctor smiled. "You don't need to worry about him. Everything's been taken care of. Just focus on getting better, okay?" the doctor said. "Oh, there was someone who wants to see you once you're awake. Do you wanna see him right away? It's okay if you're still too tired. I'll tell him..."

"No, no please ... let him in," he said. The doctor looked surprised.

"I'm glad that you already know him 'cause he keeps asking about you; even stayed until late at night for the past week. I'll let him in, now."

The doctor left with a parting smile while the pounding in Daiki's head was getting worse due to his heart palpitations. Contrary to what the doctor believed, since he barely had any friend he did not know who his nighttime visitor was. He thought it was probably that person, the one with the red shirt that he kept seeing when he was still half conscious. So, he was a little disappointed when he saw Hikaru entered the room. His disappointment must have shown on his face because Hikaru suddenly frowned.

"Uh, is it a bad time?" he asked, a concerned look on his face and immediately Daiki felt guilty. Hikaru was not his family. They were not even friends, only acquaintance but here he was visiting Daiki in a hospital.

Daiki mustered up a smile and felt genuinely grateful for his presence. "Of course not! Come in, please. I'm glad you came. Since I don't have any friends I don't think anyone would visit me."

"What are you talking about?" Hikaru said easily, his trademark cheeky smile was back on his face. "Of course we're friends. We always talk about anything, right?"

"No, you talk about anything. I was just humoring you."

"Oi! Don't you say that now! It pains me to see you helpless on that bed but I can leave right away," Hikaru threatened.

Daiki chuckled, knowing that Hikaru was probably joking. "No, no please stay. I'm really happy that you're here Hikaru-san. Trully!"

"What's this? Why are you suddenly so nice to me?" teased Hikaru.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been treating you well all this time. I guess you really care about me," Daiki said feeling embarrassed. "Thank you for bringing me to the hospital too. I didn't know you were in the area at the time. I thought I was going to die there in the middle of the empty road."

"Wait a minute. I'm not the one who brought you here," Hikaru said shaking his head.

"Eh? Really? Then who?"

"What did you remember?"

Daiki told him about what had happened that night after he closed his shop; about the accident, the person wearing red shirt who had helped him and visited him several times.

"You never saw his face?" asked Hikaru.

"No. He was always there whenever I regained consciousness but I was in so much pain that I didn't think to look at him closely. I only remembered clearly that he always wore something red,... maybe a red shirt?" Daiki trailed off trying to remember.

"You mean a red shirt like that?" Hikaru said pointing at something on the small table next to Daiki's bed. When Daiki turned to look at it, he found Yama-chan sat innocently propped by a flower vase. "One of the nurses must have put it there when they went over your belongings to look for your phone."

Daiki stared at the doll for a few long seconds while images of red shirt and white smooth skin flashed on his mind. "Am I going crazy?" he mumbled.

"What d'you mean?" asked Hikaru.

"When I was still in and out of consciousness, I keep seeing someone wearing red shirt who stayed by my side, talking to me. He was there too at the site of the accident," Daiki said. "If you're not the one who found me that night, then who was he? He called me by my nickname, so he must've known who I am, right?"

"Could he be one of your costumers?" suggested Hikaru.

"D'you think so?" Daiki asked but then a sudden stab of pain in the head made him moan in pain. Apparently thinking about his mysterious savior had put too much pressure on his still healing wound.

"Aaa... is it the head wound?" asked Hikaru, concerned. "Perhaps you shouldn't think too much on this matter. Just concentrate on getting better. This savior of yours had put a lot of effort to save your life, so you shouldn't disrespect him by making your condition worse."

"What a weird motivational talk you just did there," Daiki grumbled while Hikaru just laughed. "If you're not the one who saved me, then how did you know that I'm here?"

"Well, apparently the hospital staffs were unable to reach your emergency contact so they called Yabu-san because he is the last person that you called. He told me to check up on you," Hikaru explained.

"Please tell Yabu-san that I'm very sorry for bothering him."

"Sure! But he's genuinely worried about you too, you know. He asked me to update him about your condition, even promised to restock your pantry free of charge once you re-open your shop."

"On no! My shop!" Daiki lamented.

"Let's not think about that, yet. You still need to get better before thinking about opening your shop."

"But, Yabu-san has helped me a lot. I don't know if I can ever repay him," said Daiki sadly but Hikaru just stoically stared at him. "Alright, I get it! I need to concentrate on my health first before even thinking about my shop."

"It'll still be there when you're all cured and well. You'll get your customers back in no time. Those high school girls would love to see Yama-chan again."

"You're right, of course."

Hikaru stayed for another hour telling Daiki about Yuya Takaki who apparently had returned from his vacation and gotten himself a lover. They spent the time by speculating about Takaki's new lover. The assumptions were getting more and more ridiculous as the hour went by until a nurse came to tell Hikaru that the visiting hour was over.

Once Hikaru left, Daiki's thought returned to his mysterious red-shirt-wearing-savior. He could not think of anyone who would want to waste their time visiting him in a hospital. A passerby clearly would not trouble themselves. His only loyal companion was Yama-chan, Daiki thought as his eyes strayed back towards the doll. He was in a pretty bad shape at the time; delirious with pain and under the influence of sedative. Was it possible for his mind to create such delusion to help him cope with the pain?

###

Few days later, Daiki was declared healthy and was discharged from the hospital. He didn't go home straight away. Instead, he spent his first day out of the hospital walking aimlessly around the city park. It was such a beautiful day to be outside. The sun was shining and flower petals bathed the grass in pink and yellow color. No one bothered him as he sat alone in one of the bench facing a big lake with Yama-chan in his hand.

Daiki tried to remember his accident but whenever he tried to imagine what his savior looked like his head hurt. He winched as he rubbed the side of his head where the stitches were still aching.

"Who're you? Why would you care so much about me?" he whispered to the winds while his fingers played with Yama-chan's red shirt. "Do you know who he is Yama-chan? I really wish you could talk, you know?"

He did not know why he was so bothered by this. Perhaps it was because his savior had left an impression on him as the only person other than his latest foster parents who showed him compassion. Also, he called him by his nickname. There were only few people who called him that and he was not sure if any of them would bother to stay by his bedside while he was still not fully conscious. Another thing that was weird was this person did not come again once he was awake and not even the nurses and doctors knew about him.

There was a wooden dock near Daiki's bench that extended about twenty meters from the edge towards the middle of the lake. A woman and her little daughter walked by behind his bench. The little girl played enthusiastically with her little pug dog while her mother was busy talking on her phone. They ran around the bench where Daiki sat.

"Aaa... kawaiiii..." shrieked the little girl, pointing at Yama-chan.

"Hai! Cute isn't it?" Daiki smiled at her. He looked around the park and found the girl's mother still busy talking on her phone under a tree few meters away from them. "His name is Yama-chan," he told her. "What's your name?"

"Yuna!"

"Ah, it's Yuna-chan. It that your dog? What a cute dog!"

The girl giggled when Daiki praised her dog. "This is Shiro. He's my doggy. I love him!" The dog barked at Daiki as if saying hello to his master's newly met friend. Daiki reached out to pet the dog but the overexcited little pug ran off instead. "Eh? Shiro wait! Bye Yama-chan!" The girl hurriedly chased her dog after waving goodbye to Yama-chan.

Both girl and dog ran around the tree where the girl's mother stood. She seemed to be in a heated argument with someone on her phone and ignoring the ruckus around her. Daiki watched the little girl play with her dog for a while before his thoughts drifted back to his own problem. He mainly thought about his shop. Hopefully, he would not need to start over again. Thank god that his life insurance covered his hospital bills but restocking his pantry would take all of his savings not to mention he still needed to pay his overdue business loan. He could not depend on Yabu-san's kindness forever.

Daiki sighed. "Ne, Yama-chan. The next few months would be hard for us. Let's work hard, shall we?" he told the doll. "We can do it the first time so I'm sure we can also do it this time."

"Shiro, wait!" the little girl shrieked as her dog chased a bouncing little pink ball towards the dock.

The ball bounced along the length of the dock with dog and girl running full speed behind it with no intention to stop. When the ball finally plunged into the lake at the end of the dock, the dog followed and the little girl was close on its tail.

"Oh no!" Daiki gasped. He knew that he would not be able to stop her in time, so he threw Yama-chan on the bench and ran after her.

The splashing sound of the little girl's body hitting the water surface forced Daiki to run faster. He did not see either dog or girl resurfaced and assumed the worse.

The lake water was not too cold on the surface but the sudden impact on his system still made him disoriented for a little while. Once he regained his equilibrium, he looked around in the dark water. He caught sight of the little girl's yellow dress among the vast darkness of the lake's bottom and quickly dove in deeper. He did not see the dog anywhere near her and could only hope that the poor thing had swum away, though he was glad that he did not have to carry the two of them up.

The little girl's body was trapped among the vines that grew at the bottom of the lake and Daiki had to spend more time in untangling her from it. Once she was freed, he quickly hauled her up and swam towards the surface but the vines in turn tangled around his ankles instead. As both of his arms were busy holding the little girl's body he could only wiggled his legs trying in vain to dislodge the darn vines. He started to panic when he could not pull his legs free and his chest felt like it was burning.

Then, a man came to help. He gestured at the girl in Daiki's arm, so Daiki gladly passed her over signaling him to save her first. The man made a gesture that he would return soon to help him. Daiki saw them swam upwards and prayed for the little girl's life as the last of his breath left his well abused lungs and he closed his eyes.

The next second, warm lips forced his own lips open and blew air into his lungs. His poor lungs greedily sucked the highly appreciated warm air and Daiki reopened his eyes. Had the man returned to save him already? He wondered. A pair of strong arms wrapped around his body and pulled him up. The vines let him go this time and they slowly swam upwards while still sharing air. Yet, there was limit to human's lung capacity. Soon, the lack of oxygen forced Daiki's body to shut down and he realized it too late that the one who saved him this time too was 'him'; his red shirt wearing savior.

###

"Arioka-san? There's someone who wants to see you," said the nurse. She was coincidentally the same nurse who had treated him the last time he was admitted in the hospital.

"Is it the man with red shirt?" asked Daiki eagerly. Finally, he could meet his savior.

"Uh, no. She's the little girl's mother."

"Oh......" His disappointment was that obvious that made the nurse frowned.

"If you'd rather not see her..."

"No, no! It's okay! Please, let her in," he quickly amended.

A woman that Daiki recognized as Yuna-chan's mother timidly stepped inside the room once the nurse had left. She would not dare to approach him and just stood next to the door instead with eyes downcast. She looked awful. Her eyes were red and puffy; hair matted and disheveled and complexion pale. Daiki immediately felt sorry for her.

"I... I'm very sorry for disturbing your rest," she said in raspy voice. "I just want to say thank you for saving my little girl. If it's not because of you, I might've lost her. I'm very sorry for being a useless mother and bothering you. Very sorry!" She bowed low at him and cried right after.

"Aaaaa... no..no.. please don't cry!" said Daiki in panic. "Uh...what should I do?!"

"She still hasn't awake. Although the doctor keeps assuring me but I'm worried that she may never regain consciousness. Perhaps, she just doesn't wanna see me because I'm such a bad mother," the woman lamented as tears continued to flow.

Daiki was torn. As someone who did not have great experience with parents, his feelings towards them were generally apathetic. Excluding his latest foster parents, most parents he had encountered in his short life just wanted to use him for their own personal gain. Yet, while his own experience left nothing to be desired he knew logically that that might not be the same for all children in the world. There were many children blessed with good and admirable parents. Daiki was just not that lucky.

"Yuna-chan is a nice kid," he started choosing his words carefully to convey his thoughts. "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her because life, no matter how much you hate it, is precious. I may not be the right person to say this but .... Isn't it better to cherish what's already in front of us rather than crying over things that are already lost to us? Please cherish her more in the future. That's all I wanna say," Daiki said.

The mother bowed again expressing her gratitude several times making him very uncomfortable. He unconsciously scratched the side of his head and winced when his blunt nails accidentally scratched his newly healed stitches. "Ouch! It hurts!"

"Ah, gomenasai! I've disturbed you too long. I'll leave you to rest now. Thank you for your time!"

The woman hurriedly left the room without Daiki even noticed as he was busy curling on his bed holding the side of his head. A nurse hurriedly went in and immediately pried Daiki's fingers from his wound. "Ah, daijobu. The stitches are still intact. I can't give you painkiller, so would you please hold on until the pain subsided?"

"Hai!" he whispered. The nurse left not long after telling him to push the call button if he needed any assistance.

Daiki let out a relieved sigh when the pain gradually lessened just as the nurse had said. Curling on his side, he stared at Yama-chan that sat innocently on top of the little side table next to his bed. He remembered leaving the doll on the bench before he ran after Yuna-chan. So, how did it got there on top of his side table? Did someone picked it up and put it there? Was it Yuna-chan's mother? Or dare he think his mysterious savior?

This time Daiki was sure that he wasn't imagining it. He could not forget the luscious way the mysterious man's warm lips massaged his lips open; how his hot breath filled his stuttering lungs. Daiki touched his own lips and instantly went red. Even now, his lips were still tingling whenever he recalled that incident.

"Mou... I'm so pathetic," he moaned burying his reddened face in his pillow. He realized that he might be the most pathetic man in the world for romanticizing his own near death experiences.

To be continue....


	4. Drastic Measure for Desperate People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where Daiki lost some of his belongings but gaining new friend. Also, what's the deal with Hikaru?

The bank was not too crowded that day and Daiki was directly shown to the account officer after only waited for fifteen minutes. He wanted to ask the bank for another loan in order to pay for the shop expenses in the coming months but despite his excellent record with the bank they still refused to extend him another loan.

"We are very sorry, Arioka-san!" said the clerk regretfully. "I've already explained your situation to the manager but with the economy situation nowadays, he wouldn't take any chances. You are allowed to apply for an additional loan after your payment reach 75% of the total outstanding."

"Is that so? Uh, so it's really impossible huh?" said Daiki softly. His went limp on his chair, thinking of having no money at all to pay for his shop expenses because he had used all of his savings to pay for the last two months due.

"Once again, we are very sorry that we can't help you!" the clerk stood up before bowing at him.

"I'm also very sorry for troubling you, sir!" Daiki bowed. "I think I'll leave now."

"I'll escort you out!"

The account officer escorted Daiki until the front door and conveyed his regret for not being able to help much. Daiki left the bank empty handed and at a loss of what to do. He had refused Yabu-san's offer of financial help through Hikaru because he wanted to stand on his own. The owner of the expedition company had helped him a lot when he started his own business few years ago, he could not ask him for more but he could not think of any other way.

"What should I do?" Daiki sighed. "Maybe I should sell my bike."

Daiki spent the rest of the way home thinking about his next plan and finally came to the toughest decision that he had to make ever since he started his own business. He came to the city with nothing but a backpack full or clothes on his back and Yama-chan his only company. If he could do it then, he sure could do it now.

###

"I'm glad that you're alright," said Takaki Yuya when he came to make delivery the next morning. "When I heard the news from Yabu-san I was worried. Hikaru-kun said that you got hit pretty bad and was highly delusional. He said you kept talking about imaginary boyfriend while you were in the hospital."

Daiki who was in the middle of lifting a box of freshly picked strawberries almost dropped the box. "That bastard!" cursed Daiki. "What else did he say to you?"

Yuya frowned as he tried to recall what Hikaru had said to him. "Not much else. Just that you may have a few screw loose and that I should mind my words when talking to you or else it might trigger your delusion."

"And what do you think? Do I look crazy to you?" asked Daiki.

"Not more than usual," answered Yuya. "For a guy whose hobby is talking to an inanimate object, you're pretty normal."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," retorted Daiki in a sarcastic tone that flew high above Yuya's head.

"You're welcome! If you ever need the exact same thing, you know my number," Yuya replied, smiling wide.

Daiki rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have trust that guy," he grumbled.

"Who? Hikaru? No one trusts him in the company. He's as sly as a fox. I don't think even Yabu-san trusts him but he's useful and always do his job perfectly, so no one can blame him." Yuya looked around the shop suspiciously. "Why does this place feel a little more crowded than usual? Did you remodel?"

Daiki checked the grocery list and counted the delivered box of fruits and other ingredients that he had ordered that day before answering, "Hmmm... a bit."

Yuya noticed a bed roll on top of one of the cupboards and a basket of laundry under the kitchen counter.

"Do you sleep in here?" Yuya asked.

"What makes you say that?" Daiki asked him back as he pretended to be busy re-checking the list.

Yuya then closed the back door to check for Daiki's bike "And where is your bike? You always hang your bike behind the door."

"This is my bike," Daiki said gesturing at the delivered goods.

"You sold your bike to pay for the goods?!" Yuya's tones of voice risen up in disbelieve. "You moved out of your apartment too, aren't you?"

"I can't commute without my bike anyway, so..." Daiki raised his shoulders up and sighed. "Please don't make that kind of face. I'll be fine. I'm used to hardships since I was a kid. This is no big deal for me."

"Really, if you ever need anything... maybe I can't help much but please don't hesitate to call me. I mean it, Arioka-san," said Yuya in a serious tone.

"Thank you! But I think I won't call, not for asking help, no. Can I call you for hanging out?" Daiki asked instead before added hesitantly, "You know, as friends? Are we ... friends?"

"Of course we're friends!" assured Yuya easily with a smile that made Daiki glad he asked.

"That's great!" Daiki grinned happily. Finally, a friend of his own other than Yama-chan.

###

"Free cupcakes! Come and get it! First come first served!" Daiki shouted at the top of his lungs.

As expected, first day of business was slow. He had opened the shop since morning; had taunted the would-be-costumers with the delicious smell of his freshly baked pie and cupcakes as well as warm tea and coffees. Yet, until almost noon, no one entered the shop. Not wanting to waste the cakes and pies, he took drastic measure to give them away for free as a lure in order to get people to buy more.

"Eh? It's free?" asked one of the passersby; an old man in his sixties.

"Yes! Please take one!" Daiki nodded and opened the box to let the man take one of the still warm cupcakes.

"I'll take this brown one then."

"Ah, nice choice! That's cinnamon coffee. I just made it today, so it's still warm. Please come again if you like it," Daiki explained.

The old man took a bite and hummed. "Hmm... just the taste that I like. It's a really delicious cake!" he complimented.

Daiki was super happy to hear it. He bowed low to express his gratitude. "Thank you so much!"

"You just opened today?" asked the old man gesturing at the shop behind Daiki.

"Yes sir! Would you like to come in?"

"Ah, I have an errand to do today but I will definitely come someday. I'll tell my daughter about your shop. You're a nice boy!"

"Thank you!"

After the old man left, several people came to taste Daiki's free cupcakes but none of them went in to buy more. Daiki was a little bit disheartened. He turned to look at the counter where Yama-chan sat.

"It's okay, Yama-chan. Even if there's no customer today, there's still tomorrow. I will make more delicious cupcakes and mini breads tomorrow that no one could resist!" Daiki vowed more to himself than to Yama-chan. Of course the doll did not answered but by voicing his intention aloud he felt more energized.

"Eeehh... are those cupcakes?!"

A man in his thirties suddenly approached Daiki and grabbed the cupcakes box in his hand.

"Ha...hai... please have one!"

"I'll buy them all!" the man declared.

"Eh?! But these are samples. I'm sorry but you can only have one!"

"How much are these? I'll buy them! Oh wait..." the man reached into his trouser's pocket to get his money and gave several bills to Daiki. "Is this enough? I'll come again if that's not enough but I really need to hurry. Thank you for this, bye!"

With that last wave of goodbye he was gone leaving Daiki standing in front of his shop with several yen in his hand. Daiki blinked his eyes several times in confusion before retreating back into his shop.

"Look, Yama-chan! Our first income for today!" told Daiki excitedly showing the money to Yama-chan. "But that man is weird." He put the money into the till then went to prepare ingredients to make the next batch of cakes.

Except for that one weird incident, nothing really changed in the shop. It seemed most of his customers had moved on to frequent other places because he had closed his shop for too long. If this situation continued he was worried that he would not be able to pay the bill next month.

Daiki was in the middle of taking out the second batch of pastries from the oven when the shop's landline rang. He hurriedly put the tray on top of the kitchen table before snatching the phone's receiver. The caller was from the previous middle aged man who had purchased a box of his cupcakes that day. He found out about the shop's phone number that was written on the box.

"Ee! Ten boxes of cupcakes?! At seven?!" Daiki shouted in surprise. "I've made more cupcakes but I'm afraid it's only enough for two boxes. I don't know if I can make another eight by seven tonight," he murmured. He scratched his head as he thought about accepting the order. "I'll see what I can do."

After writing down the office address correctly, Daiki hung up the phone and turned towards Yama-chan. "Our first order, yay!" he shrieked, punching the air excitedly. Then, he ran towards the front door to flip the 'open' sign to 'closed' and locked the door. "Let's get working! We have to get them ready by six o'clock tonight. The address of the office building is a bit far so we'll need to walk some distance to get there."

###

"Hurry, hurry, hurry... we're gonna be late!" Daiki mumbled to himself as he speed walked to the designated office building with both hands holding plastic bags full of cupcakes box. Looking at his wristwatch, he realized that he only got ten minutes left before deadline. Daiki immediately sped up and walked faster. The office building he was aiming for was still half a block away and he still had to cross the street to get there.

The office worker who ordered the cupcakes was apparently a new employee who wanted to impress his seniors at his new office. His office held a surprised birthday party for one of his seniors and he was tasked to bring cupcakes. When Daiki got there, he saw the man had already waited for him impatiently outside of his office building.

"I'm very sorry to have you waiting. I walk as fast as I can!" said Daiki apologetically.

"You've come at the right time! The party is about to start," said the office worker. The man quickly paid and brought the cupcakes inside.

"Thank you so much! Please come again!" Daiki bowed but the man had already entered the building. He quickly put the money in his wallet and took a deep breath. "Not bad for a day's work but what should I do now..."

Since he'd closed his shop earlier that day to work on the order there would be no use for him to re-open the shop again. Daiki readjusted his backpack and decided to just walk around the city. Ever since he opened the shop his daily routine only revolved around his shop and his apartment. It had been a while since he had the chance to just walk around leisurely. So, it was an interesting experience to see some changes in the city. There were new establishments such as newly opened cafes, food stalls, bars, electronic shops, places with questionable services and Hikaru-san who just came out of an antique shop. Eh? Wait a minute.

Daiki saw Hikaru walked out of an outdated looking antique shop few meters in front of him. He had intended to catch up with him but then remembered what Yuya had told him earlier that day so he decided to follow him instead. Another man ran out of the same antique shop and chased Hikaru. Both of them had a mild disagreement for a while before Hikaru walked away and crossed the street right when the crosswalk sign light lit up. Daiki saw the other man continued to follow Hikaru until they are both on the other side of the street and the traffic resumed. He frowned when he saw them already involved in another argument. He saw Hikaru pushed the other man's chest before turning around and walk away but the other man suddenly ran and attacked Hikaru from behind.

"Hikaru-san!" Daiki screamed as he tried to warn Hikaru but his voice could not reach him in time and the other man continued to hit him even after Hikaru went down.

Hurriedly wanting to help, Daiki immediately ran crossing the busy street. The squeaking sounds of cars' brake filled the night as drivers desperately tried to stop their vehicle's momentum. A red truck blared its horn while speeding from Daiki's right. Daiki's heart got stuck in his throat as he was sure he wouldn't survive that night. He had already closed his eyes praying for a painless death when a force yanked his backpack and pulled his body back. The strap of his backpack broke a second before his back hit a wall of chest. The truck passed just a few inches right in front of him as a pair of hands grabbed his chest and pulled him back towards the side road.

Daiki's right side hit the stone pavement hard. He stayed frozen on the ground gasping for breath while his heart pounded a mile a minute. It was yet another near death experience that left him breathless. Perhaps, the universe really did hate him.

"D'you wanna die?!" someone whispered harshly in his ear.

His overwhelmed brain worked slowly to register the voice as well as the two strong arms that wrapped securely around his middle.

"What should I do with you, Dai-chan?" the voice sighed exasperatedly.

Daiki frowned. So, not only saving his life this guy also knew him close enough to call him by his nickname. He glanced down at the arms that were still around his body and gasped aloud when he saw that the fabric's color that wrapped around those forearms was red. In the middle of that life changing moment, the traitorous part of his brain sneakily whispered that maybe he should just play along with the universe's cruel scenario and faint. So that the next moment he opened his eyes, his mysterious red shirt savior would be gone, again. Wasn't that what usually happen in those dramas that he often watched? Screw the universe, then!

Daiki struggled to get up and in the middle of righting himself up he sighted his torn backpack being run over by cars. It was the backpack where he put Yama-chan inside.

"Nooo..." Daiki cried before crawling towards the busy street attempting to get his backpack back but the arms held him and pulled him back onto the paving. "Nooo.... Yama-chaaaaaann..."

He spent several minutes struggling to get out of that circle of arms before he was suddenly let go. Daiki could only watch as his savior, the man with the red shirt, suddenly jumped up and strode confidently towards the busy street. Cars honked their horns around him but he expertly danced around them in order to avoid from getting hit. He raised both hands up to stop a car from running over Daiki's backpack before quickly snatching it. The driver looked a bit upset and Daiki saw the red shirt wearing man bowed at him profusely apologizing.

When he returned with the backpack, Daiki's attention immediately focused on his torn bag. He hurriedly pulled the zipper open and dumped all of the contents on the pavement. Daiki's heart felt like it was stabbed by a hot rod when he saw that his most precious belonging was mutilated into unrecognizable parts. With shaking hands, he collected the parts one by one from among the scattered knickknacks of his bag's contents.

"Yama-chaannn..." whimpered Daiki between sobs as tears ran freely down his cheeks.

to be continue...........


	5. Chapter 5: Scouts Honor!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The red-shirted man introduces himself as Ryosuke and helps Daiki home but who is he really? Why does he always appear whenever Daiki is in trouble?

Daiki felt as if he was on autopilot, like one of those out of body experiences that usually happened when he was dreaming but it was not a dream. No matter how badly he wanted it to be, he knew logically that it was not a dream because a dream would not be this painful. His tears wouldn’t stop flowing and he barely remembered walking from that side of the road to the front of his shop with Yama-chan held tightly in a small white towel in front of his chest.

Someone opened the front door of his shop and ushered him in. He didn’t know how this man got the key to his shop but Daiki couldn’t care less. He walked slowly towards one of the chairs inside the shop and carefully laid the white towel that held the mangled pieces of Yama-chan on top of the table. 

“Hey, do you wanna drink something? I can make you some tea or coffee maybe? I dunno where the heck everything is but I can try to look for them,” offered the man.

Daiki forgot that he wasn’t alone. The man with a red shirt, his savior, had escorted him home. He was probably also the one who had collected Yama-chan’s parts and wrapped it in a towel that he found inside his torn bag. He didn’t really remember. He didn’t know who this man was and why he had helped him before. He also wondered if it was okay to let a stranger inside his shop late at night but Daiki was emotionally drained of energy to care more about it. 

He took a deep breath while still staring forlornly at his beloved Yama-chan. “I don’t want anything,” whispered Daiki slowly.

“It’s okay. I understand. Maybe I should lock the door and help you … uh… do you wanna go home instead? I’m sorry I don’t know where your apartment is so I just brought you here because I only know … I mean if you’d rather go home I’ll …”

“I sleep here,” Daiki said.

“Oh, okay. That’s …uh, that’s good, no, I mean that’s… okay, I guess,” the man floundered for a moment before firmly stating, “I’ll help you lock up then.”

Daiki let the man do whatever he wanted in his shop since he felt at a loss of what to do next. His brain seemed to be unable to process anything the moment he saw the mangled form of his beloved doll on the pavement. 

He heard the man puttering around his shop noisily for a few minutes before returning to his side and timidly said, “I’m sorry for doing it without your permission but I’ve found your sleeping bag and had laid it out for you.”

Instead of answering the man’s question, another flow of tears streamed down Daiki’s cheeks. The man sat on the chair next to him and waited quietly. After what seemed to be hours of crying, Daiki felt exhausted. His eyes were heavy and he felt lethargic.

“Hey, Dai-chan, come on. I’ll help you to your sleeping bag,” the man said, touching his right arm.

Daiki didn’t even have the energy to protest and just tiredly followed him when the man pulled on his arm, guiding him towards the prepared sleeping bag on the floor near the counter. He helped him into his sleeping bag and zipped it up halfway. Daiki fell asleep crying.

###

The next day, Daiki woke up groggily and immediately assaulted by the marvelous nutty smell of toasted bread. Yawning and sleepily rubbing his eyes, he crawled out of his sleeping bag and was greeted by the clanging sounds of his kitchen utensils being moved around carelessly. 

Daiki frowned in confusion. Looking around the shop, his confusion was mounting when he saw a young man in a red shirt busy making breakfast in his kitchen while the coffee machine was percolating on the counter. The smell of fried eggs and sausages was enticing and successfully making his stomach growled.

“Uh… who are you?” asked Daiki haltingly. He didn’t remember inviting anyone into his shop. The man’s back was facing him that he was unable to see his face but his height was too short to be Takaki, so it couldn’t be him.

The guy turned around and smiled. “Oh, hey! Good morning! It’s almost noon, though and I’m sorry for not waking you up sooner. I thought you’re still not fit to open your shop for today, so I just let you sleep longer. I’m sorry for taking over your kitchen but since I don’t have anything to do, I’d reckon I’ll just make you some breakfast while waiting for you to wake up on your own,” said the man in a red shirt who was commandeering his kitchen.

He was in the middle of plating the fried eggs and sausages before putting the plate on top of the kitchen table where a plate of toasted bread was ready. The coffee machine dinged and the red shirted man hurriedly took two coffee cups from the upper cabinet and poured the sweet smelling black liquid into them.

Yet, the question remained unanswered. Who was this man and why did he appear in his kitchen all of a sudden?

“I know that you’re probably confused, right now. You kinda had a breakdown at the side of the road yesterday and were too in shock to think straight. Since I know your shop’s address, I thought I’d help you out by bringing you back to your shop safely. You were pretty out of it last night.”

Breakdown? In shock? Hearing those words jolted Daiki’s memory of the previous day and sadness instantly filled his heart. He gasped aloud and turned towards one of the customers’ round table where he put the white towel containing the remnants of his doll. Tears blurred his vision for the nth time since yesterday night and Daiki didn’t think that it would stop rolling anytime soon.

“No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no … here, look at this!”

The red shirted man quickly ran over and stood in front of him, blocking his view of the round table and the mutilated doll. He held up a plate of fried eggs and sausages in one hand while the other hand held a plate of toasted bread with melted butter on top of them. He swayed both plates under Daiki’s nose, enticing Daiki’s appetite with its delicious aroma.

“They smell good, aren’t they? Looks delicious too,” said the man with a wide smile. “Aren’t you hungry? I bet you are. I can hear your stomach growl just now.”

Daiki bit his bottom lip while still sobbing. The delicious aroma of the food was definitely enticing and his stomach that was known to be his weakness was crying for food. Yet, he couldn’t shed away the deep sadness that was clouding his heart.

“Ne? Come on! Let’s go to the kitchen table and eat! I’ve poured you a cup of coffee too. It’s from your favorite coffee brand. Come on! I’m sure things will be better after you eat,” said the red shirted man.

Daiki frowned. It was exactly what his latest foster mother used to say whenever he felt sad.

“Why?” asked Daik, voice hoarse due to crying all night.

“Because you can think better with your stomach full, right? So, come on, let’s eat!” answered the man. “Here, please hold the plate,”

The man shoved the plate containing sausages and eggs towards Daiki’s chest before hurriedly ushering him towards the kitchen table with his hand guiding Daiki’s back. Daiki couldn’t help but hold the plate and dutifully put it down on the table. Then, the man dragged two chairs from the customer’s tables and told him to sit. Daiki watched the man eagerly take a toast and breathe in the mouth-watering smell before taking a big bite.

“Mmmmm… delicious!” exclaimed the man as he closed his eyes while swaying his body from left to right.

Daiki was enticed. He slowly reached for the toast while still watching the other man chew the food in his mouth noisily. 

“Go on, try it!” the man urged him again.

He forgot how delicious a simple buttered toast could be, especially when you were hungry. The moment Daiki bit on the toast, warmth instantly spread all over his body and the salty taste of butter tempting him to take another bite. 

“It’s good isn’t it?” asked the man. Daiki just nodded. “Try the sausages and eggs too!”

Daiki obediently speared a sausage and took a big bite as his appetite was slowly returning. The man kept urging him to eat more and more. He even poured cream into Daiki’s cup of coffee in the exact amount that he liked. Both of them shared the food but it was obvious that Daiki ate more than him. The man saved his life, helped him get home, and even cooked for him but Daiki still didn’t know his name. What a terrible manner he had! He had not even said thank you to his savior.

“Uhm, … thank you for saving my life again yesterday and for cooking me breakfast today too,” Daiki said bowing his head.

“Don’t mention it. I accidentally passed by and saw you almost hit by a truck. And about cooking you breakfast, well, I actually was hungry too,” the man said while rubbing at the back of his head. “I’m sorry for ransacking your kitchen without your permission. Gomen!”

Daiki shook his head. “No, no, it’s okay! If it’s not because of you then I would be dead by now!” Then, he stood up from his chair and bowed low at the man in front of him. “Thank you so much!”

The man was surprised. “Eeh! Please don’t bow at me like that!” said the red shirted man as he tried to make Daiki stop bowing at him. “It was completely unintentional. When I saw the owner of my favorite café was going to get hit by a big truck I just had to help you.”

“Oh, so you’re really my customer?”

“Yes! You can call me, Ryosuke,” the red shirted man told Daiki. Daiki repeated the name in his head, committing it to memory, feeling giddy that finally, he could put a name to an already endearing image of his savior. “What you did was very dangerous, you know? Running into a busy street like that.”

Daiki pouted his lips stubbornly, feeling like he was scolded by his high school teacher again. “I know that but Yama-chan…”

“You could’ve died! Is the doll worth more than your life?” asked Ryosuke sternly.

“Yama-chan’s my only friend! He’s very important to me!” stated Daiki.

“But you could’ve died!” insisted Ryosuke which made Daiki snap at him.

“Stop patronizing me! I know that you’ve saved my life several times now and I thank you for that but it still doesn’t give you permission to tell me how to live my life. Everyone always thinks that they hold authority over me and my life just because I’m an orphan. They were always telling me what to do without asking what I really wanted,” Daiki ranted.

Ryosuke suddenly backed off. “Yes, I get it. I’m sorry for assuming authority over you. Gomenasai!”

Now, it was Ryosuke who bowed at Daiki, making him feel awkward.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad at you,” muttered Daiki.

“Ah, _yokatta!_” Ryosuke said with a sigh of relief. “So, what are you planning to do today? I’ll help you,” said Ryosuke again with a smile.

Daiki had to think a bit longer to answer his question. In all honesty, he still couldn’t get his mind off his beloved doll but if he dwelled on that thought, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. He had a shop to run and it didn’t run well in the past few days. He had to do something or he would go bankrupt for real.

“I really appreciate your help Ryosuke-san but I can’t impose on your kindness for much longer,” Daiki said.

Ryosuke looked surprised. “Eh, why not? You’re not imposing whatsoever. I’ll gladly help you! It’s true! Please let me help you, pleaseeeee………” begged Ryosuke as he pressed his palm together in front of his chest and made a sad face.

Daiki whined. “Ugh, please don’t look at me like that! I’m not used to receiving help from anyone because I always do everything alone. I don’t know how to deal with you begging me like this.”

“Then, please let me help you, ne? Ne, ne, ne, ne, ne, …”

“Alright! Alright!”

Daiki took a deep breath before laying down the rule. “Firstly, you must do whatever I say and don’t do anything on your own if I haven’t told you to. Secondly, don’t disturb me when I’m cooking, okay?”

Ryosuke nodded obediently to all of the conditions that Daiki stated. “I promise I won’t be a bother to you! Scouts honor!” he said while swearing up his palm like a true boy scout; a gesture that Daiki found a bit weird. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t say no to this man. It was probably because he felt indebted to this man. Oh well, at least he got a free assistant. Let’s hope that this new assistant of his didn’t cause him more problems.

“So, what should we do now? Are you going to try out a new cupcake recipe or maybe a new variation of that famous pancake?” asked Ryosuke eagerly.

“Err… I think we need to clean up first. You’ve made quite a mess in the kitchen earlier,” said Daiki instead while pointing at the messy kitchen behind him.

Ryosuke rubbed the back of his head, looking guilty. “Ah, yes, sorry for that. It’s been a while since I used a proper kitchen.”

“I’ll clean up the kitchen, then. If you don’t mind you can clean the serving area. The cleaning tools are inside the toilet,” said Daiki.

“Roger, boss!”

“Eh, wait a minute! How did you get in last night?” asked Daiki. It was one of the things that bothered him for a while.

“Oh, I took the key from your torn bag. You were pretty distracted last night, so I just helped myself. I’m sorry for not asking for your permission before.”

“No, no, it’s okay. Thank you for helping me and for staying with me all night. I was … not on my right mind,” said Daiki shyly.

If he thought about it more clearly, it was really embarrassing to have a breakdown in public like that. When he left his foster parent’s house to be on his own he had promised himself not to rely on other people too much for fear to be taken advantage of but now, he had owed his life not once or twice but three times to this Ryosuke guy who was practically a stranger.

Ryosuke smiled warmly at him. “I’m just glad that you’re alright,” he said in a soft voice.

There was an odd look in Ryosuke’s eyes when he looked at Daiki; something like a deep uncontrollable sadness that was pouring out of that look. But it was gone in the next second that Daiki thought maybe he was just imagining it. Oh, well, his dirty and messy kitchen was waiting. He better got to it before the dirt stuck and was difficult to clean.

to be continued .....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm so sorry for being distracted for too long. 🙏🙏 Things were changing too fast around me that I had trouble catching up. Jump's 13th Anniversary is around the corner already and I haven't prepared anything. Oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> If you guys think that I exaggerate Daiki's trauma concerning Yama-chan, I Just wanna say that Daiki is attached to his doll. He doesn't have a good childhood and barely enough happiness to sustain his sanity. Yama-chan is the only companion he has that never rejects him. Yet, he is a survivor. He manages to pull himself together and takes control back over his emotion. Not for long though. Let's see if he can survive without Yama-chan now. 😉
> 
> Thank you for reading!! 😁🤗
> 
> See ya when I see ya, folks!


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